Lower the Bar and Give Yourself Grace!

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We are all in a state of crisis and just trying to do the best that we can. We are juggling lots of changes and trying to accomplish everything from the safety of home. We may lose our patience. We may be disappointed in ourselves and others. We may be scared or anxious. We may just be exhausted. So lower the bar and give yourself grace!

We won’t be perfect and frankly things won’t even be pretty. This is a time to try to slow down and become more mindful of how we are spending our time and how expending that energy makes us feel.

There are demands from work, home, and school all on us at this time. Plus the demands of trying to keep ourselves and our families safe and healthy.

In these hectic times it is essential that we continue to take care of ourselves and meet our own needs.

If you need help figuring out how to meet your own needs and go from surviving to actually living please reach out or follow me!

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Jen can also be reached via email at adventuresofanewyou@gmail.com

Social Workers Are First Responders

When you think about first responders who do you think of? Fire? Police? EMS? But what about the social workers that are out everyday checking on the safety of people in their community?

We are all still out here and some of our jobs have even become much harder than they would have even in our worst day! We have extra work, less supplies, and it is incredibly hard to find community providers. But we are all doing the best we can and we do this all while carrying a notebook! So if you know a social worker thank then today! If you are a social worker, thank you!

We appreciate all of the first responders that are out and working to care for our community during this trying time!

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Schedule a FREE Coaching call with Jen  - because the help that you might need just may be to find some direction or some support in setting/meeting your goals!

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For daily inspiration and support visit Jen on Instagram at Adventures Of A New You  

For inspiration check out Jen’s Pinterest 

Jen can also be reached via email at adventuresofanewyou@gmail.com

Deciding If You Are Going To Be a Complainer or a Problem Solver

Every day we are faced with challenges and we have the option to sit and complain about those challenges or jump in and figure out how to solve the problem. Now don’t get me wrong we all have off days. Yesterday was one of those days for me. You know the age old expression lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part? Well when your a social worker that doesn't really apply. Everything constitutes an emergency on my part. At times this becomes incredibly frustrating. Yesterday I had hit my limit and I turned into a big giant complainer.

I was literally a giant tailspin and frankly it was compounded when I had to go into a store that I am not a fan of to buy an item for someone else. Sometimes there are people, sometimes there are places and sometimes there are events that really push our buttons. But usually I can manage these factors and truly do my best to not be a giant complainer. 

Several years ago someone pointed out to me that I was literally completely miserable. She wasn’t wrong, but she compared me to someone who I viewed as an incredibly negative person and it was like a lightbulb went on. I did not want to be a giant Negative Nancy. I had to change.

I’m not saying that change happens overnight because it doesn’t…. Change takes time and practice…. But you have to stop the avalanche of negativity and you stop that avalanche one snowball at a time….

You have to stop yourself literally sometimes and look around and find something positive to focus on….. Something anything….literally remind yourself you know what this is a challenge and I may not care for it but it is a challenge and I am going to accept this challenge and take it in stride…. I’m going to make the best out of whatever the day brings me….

I am by no means saying that your life is going to suddenly become all rainbows and unicorns because it’s not…. Some days will be better than others….  Some days you will step into a giant muddy puddle when you are dressed in your best dress…. But what are you going to do about it? Get mad? Cry? Does that really help anything? 

Stop getting in your own way! Stop making every little problem worse but allowing it to consume you and take over your entire day! You are in control of that! You control your emotions! You control your reactions! I know what your thinking… your thinking you don’t understand…. But I do. We all think that the grass is greener somewhere else…. That someone else has it better. But do they? You think the grass is greener over here or over there…. But it’s not… it’s just different grass so take care of your own grass! So stop comparing… stop being negative…. Be a problem solver….

Give it a try today…. Just try to be a little more positive 

You are still stuck back at thinking I don’t understand but I do. I’ve been through a lot remember.  I know you have to work….. Do you? Is that how you say it? You have to work? Or do you get to work and because you work you have the ability to provide for your family? You have to clean the house? Or you get to clean a house that your family has the luxury of living in? 

You can think I’m a little over the top right now…. But I’m telling you that your perspective will make a huge difference…..

Trust me I have been in that negative place….. When My son was a month old his father lost his job…. And I HAD to go back to work almost immediately. I HAD to and I blamed him every single day for that. I was so angry and so miserable. But I HAD to keep a roof over my newborn babies head and I HAD to be able to buy diapers and all of the other things that babies need. 

It took a long time but now I know that I get to go to work to be able to provide for my child. I get to go to work and because I get to do that I was able to buy a house. All by myself. My job is no walk in the park so don’t think that I am totally crazy. But I get to go to work. There are some people who don’t or can’t go to work. I can do that. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of times when I really feel miserable but I try to find something positive about every situation. 

Social worker’s call this the Strengths Perspective but in our house I pretty much call it - Stop acting like a grumpy old man. There are times that we all need a little reminder that we truly don’t have it all that bad. At times our perspective of our own lives consumes us and sometimes that perspective is not in fact reality. We have the ability to control our own perspective on our own lives. We also have the ability to set personal boundaries. We have the ability to control at least for the most part the negativity that we allow into our lives. We can control who we associate with and we control the social media that we absorb and so much more. 

Remember in Episode 3 how we talked about how you dress affecting you? Well your surrounds have a similar effect on you. If you surround yourself with negative people and things you will also be inclined to be negative. But if you surround yourself with positive energy you just may improve not only your own day but also help out the people around you. It is so important for us to learn to be problem solvers as adults but it is even more important for us to teach our children not to just sit around and complain but to take action and solve their own problems. 

There are times when I hear my son complaining about everything and I literally can’t take it. I know that he is just expressing himself but I have to stop him and help him reframe because he starts to spiral and then there is a problem with everything.

 I also encourage him to try to figure out how he can solve the problem. Sure it would be a million times easier for me to solve the problem for him. But I don't want him to be a grown ass man who can’t figure out how to open a door because he has something in each of his hands. Seriously! Put both things in one hand. Or just stand there and complain that you can’t open the door….


So what are you going to do today are you going to figure out how to open the door or stand there and complain about it? And if today is an off today…. Shake it off for tomorrow and start fresh!


If you have a friend that would love to hear this message please share this page or my podcast with them and encourage them to join us!

Connect with Jen and others on their adventures at Adventures Of A New You on Facebook.  

For daily inspiration and support visit Jen on Instagram at Adventures Of A New You  

Jen can also be reached via email at adventuresofanewyou@gmail.com 

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Dressing To Accomplish Your Goals

Dressing for success matters! I will start by telling you that I am a morning person and I literally can not start my day without getting up and getting a shower and getting dressed! Seriously! 

I could not write this post without getting myself physically prepared! I showered and got dressed! It is literally like my brain can not get started without jumping in the shower and picking out a fresh new outfit. Getting dressed doesn’t just influence you. You getting yourself dressed matters to the people that you encounter but more than anything it matters for your mindset

We all know the cliches, fake it until you make it, dress for success… but they are serious.

You know that feeling that you have when you put together a killer outfit. Being put together allows you to you to feel your best, feel like you can do anything. You feel confident

You know what I am talking about when you find the perfect shirt to wear with your best fitting jeans and a great pair of heels and you even have the perfect accessories to top off the outfit. Sometimes it is finding the perfect pair of leggings to wear to the gym that make you feel like you could run a million miles with your shiny new sneakers. Of course no outfit is complete without your hair being styled, colored and freshly cut.

What you wear affects you!

I want you to be intentional with what you decide to wear…. Pick your clothing with purpose…

Rachel Hollis recently shared about the importance of wearing pajamas. I had never really thought about the importance of this and frequently just wore sweats to bed. But if you think about putting on a pair of pjs as a part of your daily routine lets your brain know that it is time for bed. The same principle applies for getting dressed in the morning. Your mind set controls everything! So have your outfit help your mind set.

So get up…. Get out of bed… get a shower…. And pick your outfit with intentional.

What is your goal…. Is your goal to run a marathon? Then go put on a shiny new pair of workout pants and kick that goals ass…


Is your goal to get a new job? Then put on your best interview outfit and go get that job.


Is your goal to be an entrepreneur? Well what do entrepreneurs wear? Some days sweats - but think about us on our best days… we put together outfits that show that we have pride in ourselves and we are prepared to take on anything.

Think of this as being another way to be prepared… by being dressed!


So go through your closet and pick out your best outfits!

I am not saying you need to go out and spend a ton of money on new clothes…. Work with what you have! 

I struggle some mornings with deciding what to wear so I troll Pinterest for the best ideas on how to put outfits together….  Check out my Pinterest for some ideas!

I pick out one piece to start and then i search pinterest…. What do i wear with...black linen pants…. Or what do i wear with black jeans…. 

Another little tip I almost always wear black pants! This helps simplify my life by having the base always being black it is super easy to build on. 

So what is your goal for today? How can you dress to help accomplish that goal?

A part of dressing your best is physically feeling your best, so remember that a big part of your outfit is your body. So take care of that body! Drink your water…. (I know I know I’m not a fan but do it); get in some exercise….. again i know…. But just do it… even a little bit goes a long way. Lastly, be mindful of what you are eating. If you feel good in your body you will feel even better in your clothes!

Be inspired right now! You can do anything you want to do and you will find that may be just a little easier when you feel confident when you dress with intention.

So go get a shower! Get dressed! Feel confident! You can do anything that you put your mind to.


I’m not saying that any part of my journey has been easy or that any part of my journey has even gone the way that I thought that it would go

Part of the reason why I started this page is to share my tips and tricks but it is also to share the struggles and show you that you can achieve your goals as well. 

So start where you are today… get dressed… and take that first step of working on your goal… while looking and feeling your best

If you need some help deciding what to wear, ask your friends, ask me  - I’m here for you Message me, email me, DM me on instagram, check out my Pinterest my fashion board is called adventures of fashion - 

So what’s it going to be?

Are you going to get dressed today? 

Remember self care is super important so schedule some for that work out, and some time for yourself to get your hair done, get your nails done, get a pedicure those pieces will also help you feel more confident. 

Invest in yourself - either invest using money and pay for these services or invest your time and give yourself a pedicure/paint your nails.

Show up for yourself and get dressed and then go out and take on the world!



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10 tips for life

After spending the weekend visiting my nephew at college and some time for self reflection I came up with some takeaways and tips for living life. So many times we get caught up in ourselves and may even become overwhelmed by our thoughts or our surroundings. Like any new stage of life college is a huge transition and not just for the student for the whole family! Being on a college campus can bring up a lot of what ifs, should haves, and maybe ifs. 


Here is a list of tips for anyone working on their adventure of life: 

1. Spend time with your family.  Even if they make you crazy!

2. Work hard even when you don’t think anyone is watching. 

3. Dance even if you know people are watching. 

4. Listen to your gut! 

5. Take a time out!


Sometimes we all have things to get done that we don’t really want to do… but for now those things are our jobs and we need to simply step up and do our jobs… and do those jobs to the best of our ability

ALWAYS listen to your gut! This is mindfulness 101 - listen to your warning signs and before you make any crazy big decisions listen to what your body is saying!

This weekend actually ended up being pretty stressful for me… and if we are being really honest I actually lost it at breakfast… yep breakfast… I’m still not exactly sure what happened other than I was feeling overwhelmed from every direction and tears just started dripping down my face…. 

I quickly excused myself to the bathroom…. Seriously the world's smallest bathroom… like the size of a bathroom in an airplane…. And my sister followed me because she knew I was upset… so there we were two not so tiny people in the worlds smallest bathroom…. 


I felt terrible for leaving the table…. But I needed to listen to myself and I step away for a few minutes…. 

Do not be afraid to take that time for yourself! I mean I don’t recommend that you do it in the middle of breakfast…. And honestly had i listened to my gut earlier then i would have given myself that break much earlier and not waited until there were tears rolling down my face…


6. Make time for fun!

YES! Make time for fun…. I don’t care if you plan that fun in advance have spur of the moment, fly by the seat of your pants kind of fun 


7. Try new things.  -

Join a club, take a class, go kayaking, climb a mountain try something that you have never tried before


8. Go outside!

Take a walk, just sit in your backyard, visit the grand canyon do something outside!

9. Be prepared for anything! 

And be open to what that anything may be! But seriously have a first aid kit nearby, keep your phone charged, and who knows what life may bring

10. Put your phone away! Not right now - after you finish listening to this podcast!


Seriously- over the last week I actually had to talk to both of my parents about their screen time… i’m not kidding….. I know we are all guilty of it…. But hey that new iphone update that tells you how much screen time you have used is horrifying… stop wasting your life sitting on your phone! GO out and have an adventure!


If you have a friend that would love to hear this podcast please share this podcast with them and encourage them to join us!


Connect with Jen and others on their adventures at Adventures Of A New You on Facebook.  

For daily inspiration and support visit Jen on Instagram at Adventures Of A New You 


Jen can also be reached via email at adventuresofanewyou@gmail.com 



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